Limbe Wildlife Centre

Category: Cameroon, Gorilla, Simone de Vries, endangered species | Date: Dec 31 2008 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Although I wrote an optimistic blog last week, I have some very sad news this time. On the morning of Christmas day we found Izan sick again, passing loose stool. We started treating him again, but his condition became worse and two days later he died. We are all devastated.

This is the PASA press release that came out a few days ago: 

Izan, a male Western Lowland gorilla that became an international symbol of illegal trade and African heritage as part of the so-called “Taiping Four,” died December 26 at the Limbe Wildlife Center in Cameroon following a lengthy illness.

An autopsy was performed following Izan’s death, and it is hoped laboratory tests in Europe will provide answers as to the cause. It is believed that stress and a lack of immunity to endemic pathogens may have contributed.

“We are all deeply saddened by the passing of Izan and our hearts go out to the staff of the Limbe Wildlife Center, which battled mightily to save him,” said Doug Cress, executive director of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA). “Gorillas are fragile animals that are extremely susceptible to stress, and it could be that the ordeal of Izan’s original capture from the wild and his subsequent travels left him vulnerable.”

The Taiping Four gorillas were one male and three females that were illegally captured as infants from the wild in Cameroon in 2001 and smuggled across the border to Nigeria. From there, the gorillas were transferred under forged CITES permits to the Taiping Zoo in Malaysia. After the deal was uncovered, the Government of Malaysia confiscated the gorillas and sent them to the Pretoria Zoo in South Africa – despite repeated requests from the Government of Cameroon for the return of the gorillas. In support of Cameroon’s request, a consortium of animal conservation and welfare organizations lobbied aggressively for the repatriation of the gorillas, and the Taiping Four were sent to the Limbe Wildlife Center in late 2007. Their return was viewed as a national victory for Cameroon against the international wildlife trafficking menace that continues to threaten the species’ survival.

Last June, Oyin, another of the Taiping Four gorillas, died from intestinal problems similar to those that plagued Izan.Although the Taiping Four gorillas joined Limbe’s 12-member gorilla social group within months of their arrival in Cameroon, Izan was noticeably more shy and susceptible to stress than the others. He first became ill in July, and ultimately required treatment four times over the next five months just to maintain his health. Limbe officials were in constant contact with primate health experts in Africa, Europe and North America throughout Izan’s illness and treatments. “This is a terrible loss for us all,” said Felix Lankester, manager of the Limbe Wildlife Centre. “We did absolutely everything we could to save Izan and uncover the source of his illness, but by the end he was just too weakened to recover. We shall miss him very much.”Added Lankester: “The initial findings from the necropsy of Izan were similar to those found in the necropsy of Oyin, suggesting that there could be a common cause to these two deaths. We shall be sending tissue samples to labs in an attempt to ascertain the cause.”

PASA was formed in 2000 to unite the rescue and rehabilitation facilities across Africa that care for chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and literally thousands of other endangered primates. For more information, please contact PASAapes@aol.com or visit www.pasaprimates.org.

Best wishes,

Simone de Vries

Assistant Project Manager

3 responses so far

Category: Cameroon, Gorilla | Date: Dec 21 2008 | By: limbewildlifecentre

As you can read in the blog of 24th November, five gorillas have moved to a new enclosure. It is interesting to observe the behaviour of this new group.

The first to go out in the morning is Arno. He is a nine-year-old male, who is very happy to have his own family now. To say he is a playful animal would be an understatement. It seems like he always has too much energy and needs to jump around and play wrestle with someone. The new enclosure is next to the chimpanzees and as can be expected the chimpanzees were very excited and noisy when they first met through the fences, while the gorillas were curious but relatively calm. But Arno behaved like a proper silverback: pacing along the fence, making himself as big as possible, as if he was trying to make up for his lack of capacity to make noise.

Tinu often follows Arno into the outside enclosure. After a quick walk around she finds some browse and starts chewing on it. She tears the Afromomum apart, so she can eat the inside of the stem. Tinu is the one who plays most with Arno, but she is also very interested in baby Adjibolo. She would be a great mom for Adjibolo if Abby would let her. But Abby is dominant over her, so she doesn’t get much chance.

When Abby comes out, she takes Adjibolo with her on her back. Abby is a very confident gorilla, so it was no surprise that she took upon her the care for the baby gorilla. Adjibolo is now one and a half year old, so she starts to be more and more independent, eating her browse too, but she likes to ride on other gorilla’s backs.

The last to come outside is Izan, the second male in the group, who came from South Africa last year together with Abby and Tinu. Izan is a completely different character then Arno, a bit nervous and very modest. He has been sick several times in the last months but now he is okay and eating everything he can. We hope that Izan will settle in soon and that his confidence will grow a little.

We wish all our readers a merry Christmas and a great 2009!

Simone de Vries

Assistant Project Manager

5 responses so far